How Stress Can Have a Negative Impact on Your Oral Health

How Stress Can Have a Negative Impact on Your Oral Health

We lead fast-paced, stressful lives. Whether it’s back-to-back meetings, getting your kids ready for school and to all their activities, or trying to juggle an increasingly complex personal and work schedule, we’re always on the go. Deadlines and not enough hours in the day can make life stressful. We all experience it. But many of us don’t realize the immense impact stress can have on our body and mind.

Not only can stress cause you not to sleep, give you headaches and place your overall health in jeopardy, it can also have negative consequences on your oral health.

Your teeth, gums and mouth are very delicate. Dr. Maryam Adibfar sees many Toronto dental patients who lead very busy and stressful lives. Let’s take a closer look how this stress can impact your oral health and what you can do to take care of your teeth and gums.

The Negative Impacts of Stress on Your Oral Health

1. Mouth sores: Stress can cause canker sores and cold sores. Canker sores are small ulcers that appear inside your mouth and can cause a lot of irritation and discomfort. While canker sores aren’t contagious, cold sores are. These small, noticeable blisters appear on or around your lips. It’s been found that stress can cause an outbreak.

2. Teeth Grinding: Stress can actually cause or worsen teeth grinding. While you sleep, stress causes you to clench your jaw and grind your teeth. Teeth grinding can destroy the enamel, cause hyper-sensitivity and lead to many other more serious oral health issues.

3. Your overall oral health and health in general: Doctors have found that stress can cause people to take on bad habits. This includes smoking and drinking. It has also been found that stress can cause people to neglect their oral health routines like brushing and flossing. This can directly impact a person’s ability to prevent tooth decay and oral disease.

How Can Your Protect Your Oral Health from Stress?

As your Toronto dentist, Dr. Adibfar places a high degree of importance on being aware of your stress levels. By consciously acknowledging if you are stressed, you can take the proper steps to reduce your stress levels and reduce the probabilities of experiencing stress-induced impacts on your teeth, gums and oral health.

It’s also critical to make an effort to stick to your at-home oral health regime, which includes healthy eating, brushing, flossing and mouthwash. By making these activities a priority, you can improve your oral health and get a whiter, brighter smile.

Finally, Dr. Adibfar always recommends that her Toronto patients maintain regular dental check ups and cleanings. This can help prevent the negative impacts of stress and provide your Toronto dentist with the opportunity to work with you on delivering a beautiful smile.

If you feel stressed and are noticing that it is having an impact on your teeth, gums and oral health, book an appointment today. Our talented team of Toronto dental professionals are here to help keep you smiling.

Next Steps

Do you have questions about how to protect your oral health from stress or want to schedule checkup, teeth cleaning or routine exam? Contact us directly! Our team looks forward to seeing you.